Drake seniors go out with a win

Bulldogs beat Bradley 71-66

Senior Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark.) saved one of the best performances of his career for his last game at the Knapp Center, scoring 23 points and grabbing eight rebounds on ‘Senior Day’ to lead the Drake University men’s basketball team to a 71-66 comeback victory over Bradley in the regular-season finale.

Drake rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to conclude the regular season with a 15-15 overall record and a 6-12 mark in MVC games. Bradley falls to 12-19 and 7-11, respectively.

The three graduating seniors, Hawley, Richard Carter (Detroit, Mich.) and Seth VanDeest (Bettendorf, Iowa), were honored in a pregame ceremony celebrating their accomplishments before leading Drake for a final time at the Knapp Center. Carter added 18 points and seven assists while VanDeest finished with four points, seven boards, and two blocks.

“The things that I’m most proud of it that the guys preserved through it, regrouped at halftime and Richard did a great job providing energy and getting us going,” said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti. “Aaron led us in scoring, but his rebounding is what I’m most excited about. It was a great night for our three seniors.”

Freshman Jacob Enevold Jensen (Lunderskov, Denmark) gave Drake an early boost when the rest of the team was struggling and finished with 11 points off the bench including a huge block to energize the crowd and fuel a brief first-half run. Junior Chris Caird (Daventry, England) hit key shots at critical moments throughout the game and finished with eight points.

The Bulldogs erased the halftime deficit early in the second half and tied the game at 44-44 with 12:29 remaining on the clock thanks to a 13-3 run that lasted 5:11. During that span, Bradley was just 1-of-8 from the floor.

Once Drake drew even, a back-and-forth struggle ensued. After Bradley led for the entire first half with the exception of three ties, the game concluded with seven ties and five lead changes, the last of which came with four minutes left in the contest. Carter broke that stalemate with a free throw and Caird followed with a three-pointer to build a 67-63 cushion with 2:58 left. With 47 seconds left, a Drake turnover followed by a Bradley fastbreak dunk pulled the Braves within a point, 67-66. However, Carter answered the bell as he has all season and scored Drake’s final four points including a runner with 14 seconds left to secure the win.

“It was great to finish our careers in the Knapp Center with a win,” VanDeest said. “Richard really set the tone distributing the ball and then in crunch time he did what he’s done all season.”

Bradley was led by Walt Lemon, Jr. who scored 20 points for the Braves. Despite not starting the game, Lemon turned it on quickly to give the Braves an early burst of energy. Omari Grier and Tyshon Pickett also scored in double figures for Bradley, scoring 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Drake finished the game shooting a 50-percent mark from the field, including 42.1 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs also made the most of their opportunities from the free throw line, making 17-of-19. Drake held a 31-23 advantage on the boards to improve to 15-1 when outrebounding its opponent this season and scored 26 points in the paint. Bradley endured shooting struggles in the second half, finishing the game at a 43.6 percent clip after shooting well above 50 percent in the first half.

Despite trailing by seven points early, Drake came out of the under-12 official timeout with a 7-0 run to tie the game, 17-17, at the midway point of the first half. Enevold accounted for five of the seven points, leading the Bulldogs on both ends of the court during the run. Bradley responded with a 12-0 run of its own and kept Drake scoreless for five and a half minutes, to take a 29-17 lead, before Caird ended the drought with a three-pointer from the corner.

Drake was unable to make another run in the first half and trailed the Braves, 37-26, at the break. Enevold and Hawley were the silver lining for the Bulldogs in the first half by scoring nine and eight points, respectively. However, eight Drake turnovers proved to be costly as Bradley scored 12 points off turnovers. While Drake did not have a bad performance from the field, shooting a 45.5-percent clip, the Braves shot 57.7-percent, including a 50-percent mark from the perimeter to open the game.

Drake will head to St. Louis next week to participate in the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. With Saturday’s win, the Bulldogs secured the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will face No. 9 Evansville in the opening game on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. at the Scottrade Center. The game will be broadcast on MVC TV affiliates, including Fox Sports Midwest in Iowa.

“We’ve won three of our last five MVC games, ended the season on a positive note and get a fresh start on Thursday in St. Louis,” Giacoletti said.